A simple chemical method for conversion of Turritella terebra sea snail into nanobioceramics

In this study, a sea shell was converted into bioceramic phases at three different sintering temperatures ($450^{\circ}C$, $850^{\circ}C$, $1000^{\circ}C$). Among the obtained bioceramic phases, a valuable ${\beta}-TCP$ was produced via mechanochemical conversion method from sea snail Turritella terebra at $1000^{\circ}C$ sintering temperature. For this reason, only the bioceramic sintered at $1000^{\circ}C$ was concentrated on and FT-IR, SEM/EDX, BET, XRD, ICP-OES analyses were carried out for the complete characterization of ${\beta}-TCP$ phase. Biodegradation test in Tris-buffer solution, bioactivity tests in simulated body fluid (SBF) and cell studies were conducted. Bioactivity test results were promising and high rate of cell viability was observed in MTT assay after 24 hours and 7 days incubation. Results demonstrated that the produced ${\beta}-TCP$ bioceramic is qualified for further consideration and experimentation with its features of pore size and ability to support bone tissue growth and cell proliferation. This study suggests an easy, economic method of nanobioceramic production.